With the restart of government rice stock sales in Thailand, utilization of the crop in swine and poultry feed rations is expected to increase along with exports. Exports in 2016-17 are expected to reach 11 million tonnes, and almost all of the government stocks are likely to be depleted. The government restarted sales in August following a two-month suspension. Strong demand from Middle Eastern and African countries pushed exports to 6.4 million tonnes from January through July. Parboiled rice exports increased to 1.5 million tonnes, up 40% from a year ago. Exports of white rice also increased 10% to 15% from the same period last year driven by the sale of government stocks, which makes Thai rice price more competitive than Vietnamese rice